Our friends on the east side of the mountains sent us a fun Valentine box.  In it were suckers, but not just any suckers.  These had cut out lips or moustaches attached so that when you suck the sucker you have girly lips or a handsome moustache. What fun silliness. 

We wanted to get a photo with EVERY one in it, but between sickness in February and adult children who are quite busy...it wasn't happening.   We had a narrow window of opportunity on Easter Sunday.

 

So in addition to rejoicing and celebrating the most joyous news to all of mankind... that

HE IS RISEN

We also enjoyed some fun family time.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner when we came home from church.  On the menu was ham, creamed corn, (this recipe has been specifically requested by my children for years...Thank you, Karen!) spinach salad with strawberries, scalloped potatoes, trinity rolls (clover rolls) and coconut custard pie for dessert.
Not quite a gluten free, dairy free, fat free kind of meal, but oh so good!

We also enjoyed the glorious sunshine.  It was 70!  Some Easters have been so cold and blustery, but not today.  Today was absolutely beautiful!

Today was a wonderful day with our children; we just wish all our family could have been here too.  Hugs to all the Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

Food, good food

I completely forgot to post about our amazing St. Patrick's Day dinner that Hannah made for us.  She planned a three course meal and prepared everything to perfection!

If you've been reading my blog, you already know about Hannah's passion for Ireland. 

 

The landscape is beguiling

 

 

the music is enchanting,

 

 

 

the accent is intriguing,

the food .....

 



Wanting to keep this Authentic St. Patrick's Day Dinner tradition fresh each year, Hannah chose a different menu from last year's.  

Cabbage soup with Irish bread

Bangers and Mash

Brownies with mint chocolate chip ice cream { Ok, so this isn't Irish, but it was festive with the green ice cream.}

Cabbage soup is a great staple food.  It's healthy and cheap! The recipe she used is here.
Hannah used it as a guide.  She used the entire cabbage and then used enough homemade chicken stock to adjust for that.  She also just used head cabbage instead of the savoy that the recipe called for since the savoy was 5 times as expensive. I'm sure foodies would argue that the nuance from Savoy cabbage would enhance the flavor, but our budget much preferred the other.

Last year Hannah made Irish soda bread.  It was a sweet bread with raisins.  This year she made one without raisins.  It was much more like Artisan brown bread...very authentic, very European.  The bread recipe is here

 

Trader Joe's sells actual "Irish Bangers" - which are large sausages
 made with pork, water, and breadcrumbs, as well as some spices. {They used to sell them year round, but now they only sell them in the month of March.}

 

Did you know that "bangers" was applied to sausages during World War II when food in Britain was being rationed. Strict rationing lead sausages often being filled with water to bulk them out. The high water content resulted in the sausages exploding easily when fried, and they were therefore nicknamed "bangers." The word "mash", as you can guess, is simply an abbreviation for mashed potatoes.

 

Hannah served this dish as part of our supper, but it is also traditionally served as a breakfast with tea.

 

You really should try it -even if you just use regular mild sausages {Iserno's makes a great nitrite free sausage.} It's simple, delicious, filling, and comforting.

She got the recipe here 

The only tweaks she did were tripling the recipe for our large family +1 guest, and

she omitted the beef gravy ingredient altogether. 

 

This meal left us very full and looking forward to next year's menu with anticipation!

 

 

 

 

Two

Today, the "baby" turns two.  The BABY.  TWO!  Unbelievable. 

 

We sang to her first thing.  She was so excited.  "dirday" 

Happy Birthday to you, to Jesus be true, God bless you and keep you, the whole year through.

Since today was a work day, we had Mary open up her gifts first thing in the morning, before they headed off to work. 

Mary absolutely loves this tea set. 

 

A handmade birthday dress from big sister.

Yep, that's snow in the background...crazy spring!

Story books, coloring books & crayons, Play dough, Little People princesses, a cuddly plush lamb, and tea party set.  All great fun for Birthday Girl.  That's how she spent her day.

Pretty sweet big brother to play tea party with her.  The both had a lot of fun together.

 

For her special birthday dinner I decided to make home made macaroni and cheese topped with bacon.  That was a hit! 

We did cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles and cookie dough ice cream.  Cupcakes are great because they are a nice serving size.  Mary didn't love the ice cream.  She's probably a plain vanilla gal.....like her mama. ;-)

 

 

It was so cute, when we put the cupcake in front of her, she immediately started blowing on the UNlit candles to blow them out.  {Gee, she hasn't seen anybody blow out candles recently.}

Happy Birthday, Sweet Mary Anne.  You are such a joy and a delight.  We are so thankful to God for you.

Function or beauty?

 
The practical person wants function;  the look is unimportant.
The artistic/creative person is drawn to “the look”; function is not important.

Enter  beautility.  Beauty + utility.

I am a very practical person, but honestly, life is too short to live with ugly! 
I think standard towel racks are ugly. 
 
Eric made these for me and I love them.  They are perfect for our very small bathroom.



These towel racks were so simple to make.  He used a 1” x 6” x 6’ pine board to make two towel racks to replace the two ugly ones.

One is 33” long and the other is 16”.   He sanded both to a smooth finish.  He used a white stain to achieve the white wash look.   He added the clear, glass knobs.  {5 knobs on the one that is 33" and 3 on the one that is 16"} He measured from the very center and worked out to the edges so that it would look right.  {because the look IS important!}

 

 

He hung them on the wall with screws.  For a finished look, he bought the little plugs that cover the screws....voila!  Yep, He's THE MAN!

When I wake

 

You will be there

 

When the sun goes down in the night

 

You will be there

 

 

How precious are Your thoughts all over me

 

Oh, more than the sands of the sea

{Words from Jeremy Camp's "You will be there"} inspired by Psalm 139

My heart overflows with an overwhelming awe
                               at how vast God is...

                                                     how faithful God is!

Pizza night

Friday nights are our pizza night.  It has been that way since forever.   The recipe for the dough is so simple.  It's from the Betty Crocker Cookbook that I was given as a bridal shower gift.

Dough for 1 pizza
1 c. warm water
2 tsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. sugar (I use honey, you can use any sweetener - agave, maple syrup, etc.)
1 tsp. salt
3 c. flour (you can use white,  wheat or a combo of both.  Our personal favorite is fresh ground Kamut.)

Pour the warm water into your mixer bowl.  Add the yeast.  Add the olive oil, then the honey (in this order the honey will drip right in.) and the salt.  Add 1 cup of flour, mix, add another cup of flour, and mix for a minute or so.  Add the final cup of flour and mix in the mixer for about 3 minutes.
The dough should be a smooth, gathered ball that gives a little when you push with your finger and does not feel sticky.

Pam spray a glass bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn once to coat.
Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.  (I turn on my oven when I begin to make the dough, then turn it off.  Then I put my bowl in the warm oven.)

I try to alternate the kinds of pizza I make. 

• pepperoni (nitrite free)
• Hawaiian (pineapple bits and nitrite free bacon pieces from Trader Joe's)
• vegetable (olives, bell pepper, mushroom, zucchini)
• Sausage and red onion.

and my absolute FAVORITE....

• Pesto with chicken, artichoke hearts and green onions.

 Grated mozzarella cheese, chopped, cooked chicken, pesto, sliced green onions, artichoke hearts with juice reserved.

 

 After the dough has sat in a warm place, it will be double in size.

 

 Place your dough on a floured surface.

 

 Sprinkle a little flour on the top to prevent sticking to the rolling pin.

Roll out the dough to a circle a little larger than the size of the pizza pan you have.

 Look, cheese in the crust...tremendous!

The crust extends over the pizza pan about 2 ".  Place a small amount of shredded mozzarella on the overhanging part.

 

 

 Fold the dough over the cheese and twist as you go to make for a beautiful edge.

 Mix the pesto, the artichoke hearts and the reserved artichoke juice together.  Spread onto the crust. 

Looking good...smelling even better! 

 Now add the chopped green onions.

 

next, add the cooked, chopped chicken

 

 

  Pop in a 500 degree oven - just until the edges of the crust start to brown.

 Pull out of the oven, and shake some grated parmesan cheese across the top.

 Lastly, add the shredded mozzarella cheese.

 

 Put back in the oven and cook until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

 

 We bought this great pizza peel from King Arthur Flour.

 

 

The masterpiece!  Oh my, it is so good!  Give it a try.

Some projects

I'm working on a couple of projects.

 

Yep, potty training is one of them.  Mary Anne is doing so well.  {M&M's are a great incentive.}  She's well on her way!

Hannah and I are going to make some dresses too.   We have a wedding in May that we'll be attending so I thought it would be fun if the girls (Hannah too) all had something new and fun to wear.
I adore polka dots.  THEY are fun!
I'm not sure if I'll make a dress for myself too.  It kind of depends on the time and if I can find a fabric and pattern that I like.  

I should be starting garden seeds, but I just don't have the place to put them where they would be out of the way and undisturbed.  Last year, we started our garden with starts and it looks like we'll be doing it that way again this year.  Soon we'll be rototilling in all the hay and "organic goat matter" to make for beautiful garden soil.   We have a shorter growing season up here on the mountain.  Sometime around Mother's Day we'll probably plant. 

We just got one of our does back from "holiday".  If she took, then we shall have kids around mid July.   She's a rather skittish goat.   Usually, our goats are very inquisitive {sometimes almost annoyingly so} and very friendly.  I'm hoping that once she kids she'll be mellow and calm, and I'm praying she'll be good on the milk stand.  Some times you have to work with first time fresheners and that can be discouraging.   Thankfully, we've only had one very difficult goat.  The rest have been easy going and happy to be milked.

We are in the midst of planning a family vacation.  Do you have any suggestions for keeping little ones happy on a plane? 

We have another project on deck, but it's a HUGE one....like moving huge, but we are not moving.  But honestly, I don't want to think about it - so I won't!

Energy Cookies

Here is a great cookie that you can feel good about giving your kids {or enjoying yourself}
I think it's just the right amount of sweet and crunch.  I haven't run the calorie count  {I'm not sure I want to as all healthy things seem to be high in calories.}

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. flax seeds
4 c. flour {We used oat flour, but have also tried it with almond flour.  Coconut flour would
                 probably work too - or any combination of these.}
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 c. rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. oil {we used sunflower seed oil from Trader Joe's}
1 c. honey
1 c. raisins, plumped in 1 c. hot water

1.  Place 1 c. raisins in a bowl.  Pour 1 cup boiling water over to cover.  Let sit.

2.  Combine the pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds and toast in a dry frying pan until they crackle.  Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.

3.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients to toasted seeds.

4.  Drain the raisins, RESERVE the raisin-water.

5.  Add the drained raisins, oil, and honey to the mixture.  Mix together with an hand held electric mixer.  Add reserved raisin water until you have a moist, stiff batter with no clumps of dry ingredients.  *You should be able to scoop up mixture with an ice cream scoop/melon baller.

6.  Scoop balls onto cookie sheet.  They do not spread, so you can flatten with the palm of your hand.
Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

7. Cool 15 minutes.

These are suitable to make either big {4" in diameter} by using an ice cream size scoop or small {1" in diameter} using a melon baller size scoop.